Fort Meade Economy Is Focus of Summit

Published: Saturday, April 12, 2014 at 10:33 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, April 12, 2014 at 10:33 p.m.

FORT MEADE | About 35 Fort Meade residents and business owners spent Saturday morning hammering out a plan to ignite the community's economic redevelopment.

In the end, the greatest challenge that emerged from the exercise had nothing to do with land clearing or bricks and mortar it was communication.

The group agreed there's a perception among some residents that Fort Meade shouldn't grow, and even more don't appear to be interested in pushing the community forward.

"We need to inspire people to get involved," said Clayton Frazier, who owns the Badcock & More home furnishings store in Fort Meade. "We need to improve communication throughout our community."

That challenge will be among the first orders of business for the community's fledgling economic development council that is expected to emerge from Saturday's meeting, which was organized by the city and sponsored by Florida Public Utilities.

The group recognized the proposed park along the Peace River as an opportunity that could fuel growth in the city of about 5,800 residents. Members also identified access to natural gas and rail lines, coupled with the availability of large tracts of land, as a potential magnet to attract new industry.

Among the threats facing the city are apathy within the community, competition from neighboring communities and the city's tight budget, which limits its ability to maintain facilities and infrastructure.

Many of those attending the economic summit said these issues aren't particularly new to Fort Meade, but Saturday's exercise at Streamsong resort near Fort Meade helped to identify ways to address them.

"We were able to narrow down the problems," said Fort Meade resident Cliff Maker. "The next step is to get the community to buy into a program to move ahead. It's going to be difficult to do, but I think it can be done."

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Fort Meade Economy Is Focus of Summit